


Deirfiúracha Deo

by Featherbelle



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8682967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherbelle/pseuds/Featherbelle
Summary: Ciara Flanagan has a problem that is slowly eating away at her. How far will she and her fellow Avengers go to solve it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a conversation I had earlier this evening with my best friend. Translations as follows: Deirfiúracha Deo: Irish for Sisters Forever. Is fuath liom tú, tú ag fucking soith: Irish for I hate you, you fucking bitch. Aș vrea să fii mort: Romanian for I wish you were dead.

I brushed the tears out of my eyes with an angry swipe of my hand. I was so sick of this shit. But I couldn’t see a way out or how I could help fix the situation.

Needing an outlet for my emotions before the anger spread throughout the compound, I headed to the gym. Maybe beating the crap out of a punching bag or three would help me put a choke hold on my Empathy.

Wrapping my hands, I approached the lone bag hanging in the middle of the room. A small smile creased my face as I recognized Steve’s cologne in the air. He’d been in here recently. Probably abusing this same bag, although I knew he had the strength to send one flying across the room.

I spent several minutes throwing punches and kicks at the bag as a warmup. Then I picked up speed, imagining the bag was a person. One particular person, who at this precise moment, I’d have dearly loved to had within arm’s reach. With each blow, I yelled at the bag, pretending it was human. “Is fuath liom tú, tú ag fucking soith!  Aș vrea să fii mort!”

I was so pissed I was screaming in multiple languages. Irish and Romanian so far...but God help anyone who crossed me if I hauled out the Russian.

A chuckle sounded behind me, and I spun on the ball of one foot, the other flying up to collide with the head of whoever was laughing at me. I was _not_ in the mood. My ankle was captured by a metal hand.

"Damn it, Bucky!" I swore, swinging my body up and over so I landed on his shoulders. There was no way in hell I could make him let go of my foot if he didn’t want to. He did let go, still laughing.

"Who’re you pissed at, doll?" he asked, reaching back to grab my hips and flip me over, setting me on my feet.

"Nobody," I replied, returning to the bag and my workout.

"Bullshit, Ciara. I am fluent in Romanian. That last thing you said...who do you want dead, gorgeous?” The handsome soldier grinned at me from the solid stance he’d taken on the other side of the bag. "You know I’m good for it.”

"Good for what?” Steve asked as he entered the room. "Are we sparring?” His gaze moved over Bucky and I, Bucky now holding the bag as I sent my fists and feet into it repeatedly.

"Would the both of you please just leave me alone?” I growled. Because I knew them and I knew they’d pester me until I fessed up. I also knew if I told them what was bothering me, I’d be sorely tempted to take Bucky up on his offer, which actually wasn’t a good thing. Despite the dark voice in my head telling me it really wouldn’t because _then she’ll be free._

I shook my head furiously, increasing the pace and ferocity with which I assaulted the bag. Bucky dug his feet into the floor. He glanced over at Steve and nodded his head at me. "Doll, you’re mad as hell at someone. Now talk to us before you wear yourself out.”

Gritting my teeth, I replied, "That’s kinda the idea, Barnes. Now shut it!”

"Why do you want to wear yourself out, babe?” Steve asked, and I could feel the heat radiating off him. He was right behind me. Damn it.

"Because maybe then I’ll be too tired and worn out to go kill my best friend’s mother,” I snapped. Shit. They were _not_ supposed to hear that.

Bucky snorted. "I think Nat’s mom is long dead, doll.”

I yelled in frustration and grabbed the sides of the bag, then threw it at Bucky. "For fuck’s sakes do the pair of you not know the meaning of the words ’shut the hell up and leave me alone’?” I snarled.

”Sure, we do...but we also know you. And right now being alone is the last thing you need. Now come on...what’s bugging you?” he replied, reaching up and pulling the bag down from where it hung and setting it aside.

Steve wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Come on, babe...what’s wrong? Maybe we can help.”

I sighed and slumped in Steve's arms. "You sure about that, Captain Rogers?" I asked softly. My mind was wandering towards Bucky's earlier offer again.

He turned me to face him. "Harmony..." Steve pleaded, using my team code name. "Talk to me."

"Okay...but can I have something to drink first?" I asked, heading out of the gym.

"Sure, babe. I'll get you some water," Steve smiled, taking my hand.

I shook my head emphatically. "Oh hell no. If I am going to open up about this I am going to need serious alcohol."

Bucky grinned. "Stark's stash."

I snorted. "Fuck Tony. I have my own."

The three of us quickly went back to my suite of rooms and I invited them in. "Have a seat, boys. And help yourselves," I waved a hand in the direction of my kitchen.

Ducking into my bathroom, I peeled the wrap off of my hands and tossed it in the trash. Gazing at my reflection in the mirror, I sighed softly. "Please don't leave me," I whispered, thinking of my friends in the next room. With a deep breath, I straightened my shirt and headed out to tell the boys everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciara tells Steve and Bucky why she's so upset. The boys come up with an idea.

When I stepped back into the living area, Bucky handed me a tumbler with amber liquid inside. I took a small sip. Whiskey. "Mmmm...good choice. Thank you."

"You're not going to get drunk on us, are you?" Steve asked. He wasn't angry...just curious. If I did get drunk or tipsy...it wouldn't be the first time Steve or Bucky had put me to bed to sleep it off, bottled water waiting on my bedside table. Nor did it mean that he begrudged it of anyone else just because his metabolism prevented him from drowning his sorrows in a bottle.

"No, but I cannot talk about this stone-cold sober." I took a larger sip and settled into the couch next to Steve, Bucky occupying the chair across from us.

"My best friend...other than Nat...is a woman named Saoirse Theirin. She lives in Georgia. I've known her for years...since I was at Professor Xavier's school in New York," I began, staring at the boys' reflections in the glass-topped coffee table. "Saoirse is a mutant too...and ideally she should have been trained alongside me...but for a variety of reasons, one of which was caused by Kaos herself..."

"Kaos?" Bucky asked.

"My nickname for her...the girl is chaos friggin' incarnate. And I don't mean because of her powers. She's just..crazy. But good crazy. Although with all the shit she's gone through...sometimes I wonder how in the hell she isn't crazier than a damn bedbug. But anyway...she wasn't trained at the school. I discovered her during my own telepathic training with the Professor. He had been teaching me to use Cerebro...which is a computer that boosts a telepath's abilities. With Cerebro, a telepath can touch the mind of anyone on the planet, pretty much."

"Damn," Steve muttered softly.

"Yeah. So I found her during one of my lessons. Her abilities were new...and she was scared shitless of them. Especially because of her family's reaction." I made a face and sipped more whiskey.

"Let me guess...the typical one. 'You're not normal. We hate you. Get out,' Bucky spat, a snarl curling his lips.

I nodded. "Yeah...all of that pretty much except the 'get out' part."

"Why?" Steve put in, leaning forward in curiosity.

"Because she's essentially her mother's fucking slave labor...and Lord knows the bitch can't do a damn thing for herself. Or _have_ to...not when she's got Saoirse to push the hell around," I fumed.

"So how does her mother hide the demon child?" Bucky asked, and I could tell by the look on his face he was starting to get as mad as I was.

"Fairly easily. She just doesn't let Saoirse work...unless it's something she approves of...which isn't much. They only have the one car, which her mother uses to get herself to and from work...so Saoirse is basically trapped at home while her mother is away. See, they live in this tiny ass podunk town which does not have anything close to public transit. And also Kaos is entirely dependent on her mother in far too fucking many ways."

"Like?" Steve prodded, reaching out and taking one of my hands in his.

"She can't do anything on her own or for herself. Grocery shopping? Mom's got to drive her to the store and back, and for all I know goes in the store with her and monitors every damn thing she puts in the cart. And don't get me started on doctor's appointments," I rolled my eyes, taking another sip of my drink.

"Babe...come on, you gotta tell us," Steve urged.

"Kaos isn't sick much, but when something is wrong that definitely needs a doctor's care...she has to wait because her mother's hypochondriac bullshit comes first. There has been a time or two when she needed to see the doctor badly...she had ovarian cysts a couple of times. We were both scared to death it was cancer."

At the sight of tears in my eyes, Bucky got to his feet and came over to the couch. He picked me up and sat down again, holding me in his lap and stroking my back. Steve reached up and wiped away the tears that fell with his thumbs.

I took Steve's hand in mine and kissed his knuckles. "The first time...it was bad. Very bad. The damn cyst had grown to be the size of a damn grapefruit. She was in constant pain...but still had to do all the fucking household chores and shit. By the time she got to go to the doctor to have it seen about...she ended up in the hospital having the entire damn ovary removed. And then she lost her other one because it too grew cysts...and she wasn't taking any chances that time."

"Is she all right now?" Bucky asked softly.

"Yes, physically. But getting back to her powers and all...she was terrified of them. And rightly so, especially, as I said, considering her environment. She is a telepath, like me. She also has telekinesis, pyrokinesis and clairvoyance."

"Which kind?" Steve asked, and I smiled at him. Not many people knew there were different types. Clairvoyance typically was a catchall term for being psychic, but there are many types and variations. "Clairsentience, which in case you didn't know, Bucky, is..."

"Like you, doll. You can read people and things and know all about them," he interrupted, and I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Close. Not everything. Just past and future. Telekinesis means she can move things with her mind, and Pyrokinesis is firestarting."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't she just use her powers to escape the abuse?"

"Because she'd get arrested for fucking arson, that's why. And why that, you ask? Because all the abuse is psychological and emotional...which is hard as fucking hell to prove," I replied, tears falling again.

Bucky's hand moved into my hair. "How'd she even get trained, doll? I imagine her mother wouldn't let her go somewhere like Xavier's mansion because then she'd be exposed."

I laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. "You imagine correctly. Hell it was a fluke that I even found her with Cerebro. She was so scared of what she could do...her terror basically shut her abilities down. But once I found her...I started talking to her...mind to mind. I told her who I was...that I was a mutant too...and with the help of Professor Xavier and Dr. Jean Grey, we got her abilities under her conscious control. We had to do it all telepathically, which made the training of the TK and PK a mess...but we did it. It helped a great deal in the beginning that she and I both have telepathy and clairsentience."

"I bet your Empathy helped too," Steve observed.

"Yeah, it did, which is partly how I know why she's never up and walked away. Never mind all the damn gaslighting," I grumbled, hopping up off of Bucky's lap to head to the kitchen.

The boys followed me, Bucky asking, "What gaslighting?"

"More of the psychological abuse I mentioned," I replied, pulling a pack of cookies out of a cupboard. "Basically it's where her mother has done things to make Saoirse doubt herself – her own memory and sanity. It's a common tactic used by narcissists, and ye gods, if her mother is not a grade-A classic narcissistic bitch from hell…I don't know who is."

"Okay doll...what do you want to do about this?" Bucky asked, watching as I opened the cookies and started nibbling. Glancing up at him, I huffed and rolled my eyes. "Oh…here," I muttered, faking annoyance as I handed him the package.

"What do I want to do? I want to get her the hell out of there, that's what. I just can't figure out how to do it without getting us all in a shitload of trouble."

Steve took the cookies out of Bucky's hand and laid them on the counter. "Hey!"   

"Later, Buck. We need to talk to Tony." There was a glint of something in Steve's eyes.

"What are you thinking, Steve?"

"Let's go talk to Tony. I imagine there is a home for your friend somewhere in Stark Industries. We get him to hire her but here's the catch. She can't work from home…she has to move to New York to take the job."

"Great idea, Steve, but what's to keep her mother from trying to pack up and come with her…and just continue treating her as shitty as always?" I mused. And it was a wonderful idea, except for the flaw I pointed out.

As the three of us exited my suite, Steve asked JARVIS where to find Tony, while Bucky suggested something. "What about if she was hired to be your personal assistant? And she must live with you in addition to working for you. Your suite is only a two bedroom, so there'd be no room for her crazy mom. And only the Avengers and certain other Stark staff live here at the Tower…so again…no room at the inn," Bucky grinned down at me, clearly proud of himself for figuring this out for me.

"Hmmm…that might work, but let me talk to Saoirse first and see what she thinks. I also want to know if she's okay with a move like this," I told him, hauling him down so I could kiss his cheek. "Thanks, Bucky."

"I meant what I said earlier, doll. I'm good for doing whatever you need."

Steve had finished consulting with JARVIS. "Tony's in his office. Let's go."


End file.
